---
name: "Sumiko Sakamoto"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/sumiko-sakamoto"
roles: ["Actor"]
born: "25 November 1936"
died: "23 January 2021"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 1
updated: "2026-09-16T14:07:55.378736+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Sumiko Sakamoto

Actor. Born 25 November 1936 in Osaka, Japan. Died 23 January 2021.

## Details

- **Work:** Actor
- **Born:** 25 November 1936, Osaka, Japan
- **Died:** 23 January 2021

## Fi1m on Sumiko Sakamoto

> Sumiko Sakamoto is compelling as women accustomed to hardship. We recommend her above all for Orin in *The Ballad of Narayama*, where ordinary care for a family becomes painful to watch without a declaration of suffering.

In *The Ballad of Narayama* (1983), Sumiko Sakamoto’s Orin keeps looking after her family while preparing to be abandoned herself. Sakamoto gives her preparations the attention of someone who still has other people to consider. She does not make Orin’s suffering an occasion for declarations, or interrupt that practical concern to ask for sympathy. We find her compelling because her acceptance of the custom is so difficult to separate from her care for the family.

Sakamoto came to film acting in the 1960s after beginning as a singer. She made three films with director Shōhei Imamura, from *The Pornographers* (1966) to *Warm Water Under a Red Bridge* (2001). Orin is her signature part, within a body of work associated with determined women enduring hardship. She continued taking supporting roles through the 1990s and 2000s. For us, *The Ballad of Narayama* is where that description becomes specific: Orin’s determination is part of what makes her distressing to watch.

We were horrified by Orin continuing to care for people while preparing for her own abandonment. There is something especially painful about her treating those preparations as another responsibility, rather than an occasion to demand anything for herself. Ken Ogata, as her son Tatsuhei, keeps their relationship close enough for the impending obligation to hurt. The family attachment is recognisable, which prevents us from putting the predicament safely at a distance.

Imamura’s comparisons between villagers and animals grow insistent, and they are the film’s chief weakness for us. Sakamoto has already made Orin’s behaviour difficult enough to contemplate without that repeated prompting. Her performance keeps our attention on a mother and the people she cares for, where the film is most affecting. Start with *The Ballad of Narayama*, but allow for a painful evening.

## Biography

Sumiko Sakamoto (25 November 1936 – 23 January 2021) was a Japanese singer and actress born in Osaka. She appeared in three films directed by Shōhei Imamura: *The Pornographers* (1966), as Haru Matsuda; *The Ballad of Narayama* (1983), as Orin; and *Warm Water Under a Red Bridge* (2001), as Masako Yamada.

She won the Japanese Best Actress Award from the Nihon Academy for her performance in *The Ballad of Narayama*, which received the Palme d'Or at the 1983 Cannes Film Festival. Sakamoto died of a stroke in Kumamoto City.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (1)

- *The Ballad of Narayama* (1983), Fi1m 82, as Orin — [page](https://film.one/film/the-ballad-of-narayama.md)

## Also known for

- *The Pornographers* (1966), Haru Matsuda
- *Warm Water Under a Red Bridge* (2001), Masako Yamada

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/sumiko-sakamoto